Dana always feels second best and she does get a secondary role in James' life. James tries his best not to have the girls' paths cross. But they do meet and of course, their friendship sets their worlds toward an inevitable collision.
The fact that the story is told from both perspectives makes for an interesting read. At first, the reader feels that Chaurisse has all of the advantages; when you read from her point of view, a different picture emerges. She doesn't know that she has this "advantage" of a father who lives in the home. She speaks of a "silver girl" as someone who is better than she is - prettier, smarter, more popular. And when she meets Dana, that is what she finds. Dana knows that Chaurisse is her sister, but Chaurisse is in the dark.
This is a story about two African-American families in Atlanta during the 80s who face very different truths about their lives. The choices that James makes has far-reaching consequences for everyone involved as they confront inequalities on many different levels. The first part of the book tells the story from Dana's point-of-view. By the end of the first half, the reader is highly sympathetic to Dana and her mother. The second half of the book is told by Chaurisse and the change in perspective forces the reader to confront his/her view of the situation. Nothing is black and white. No one will escape this situation unscathed.
ReplyDeleteThis book is highly readable. I couldn't put it down. I was fascinated by the situation and how everything was going to pan out. I was a little disappointed that the author didn't delve more into why each individual made the choices that they did. The story mostly stays on a surface level and the ending seemed to wrap up too quickly. I'm not sure I really believed in how everything turned out. However, the story really interesting and original and often heartbreaking.